The Associates: EAA, FAC, Iceland Music
Covid-19 has impacted every business sector around the world, but with live entertainment likely to be one of the last industries to return, given social distancing regulations, the associations that represent its millions of employees have never been more important.
As restrictions in many countries enter yet another month, for issue 91 IQ found out more about some of our association partners and discovered just what they are doing to help their members navigate and survive.
Following the last instalment with the BPI, CLMA and Dansk Live, this time we check in with the European Arenas Association, the UK’s Featured Artists Coalition and Iceland Music.
European Arenas Association
Representing 33 arenas across 20 countries, the aim of the European Arenas Association (EAA) is to provide consistency, support, best practice and networking opportunities for its members, to allow and encourage them to share experiences and common ground. Membership usually costs €4,000 per year.
The arena industry has been hit particularly hard in the pandemic, so support for the EEA membership during these challenging times has included:
- Surveys to establish the different protocols and procedures followed in the initial stages of the outbreak
- Discussion platforms to allow all members to have direct contact with each other and share concerns/questions
- Cancellation of 2020 membership fees to alleviate financial pressure
- Lobbying the EU via the EU sub-group network
The EAA cancelled its 2020 membership fees to alleviate financial pressure
Featured Artists Coalition (UK)
The Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) is the UK trade body representing the specific rights and interests of music artists. It is a not-for-profit organisation, serving a diverse, global membership of creators at all stages of their careers. The FAC was formed by artists, for artists, and places this ethos at the centre of all it does. It advocates, educates, collaborates and researches on behalf of artists, coming together to provide a strong collective voice within the industry and to governments domestically and abroad.
Formed in 2009, by seminal artists including Billy Bragg and Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason, the FAC’s board still represents some of the most recognised names in the music world, with current artists in residence that include Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien, Imogen Heap, Katie Melua, Sandie Shaw, Howard Jones, Fran Healy (Travis) and Blur’s David Rowntree. There are around 3,500 FAC members, whose fees are £5 (€5.60) monthly or £50 (€56) per year.
During the pandemic, the FAC has focused on different areas at different times (as is the nature of the impact). It moved quickly to survey members to assess the immediate impact of the lockdown. That data hugely supported its lobbying efforts both within the industry and to government. FAC’s Covid-19 directory has been keeping members up to date, while the organisation’s events have moved online to boost the community aspects of their work.
Iceland Music has been lobbying government to get funds into the system to assist with the drop in revenue for musicians and promoters
Iceland Music
Iceland Music is an information agency and music export office. It does not have a membership system, but provides all sorts of information and support to the music community in Iceland, and promotes Icelandic music abroad.
The organisation runs IcelandMusic.is (in English) which offers a portal into the country’s diverse music scene, and Uton.is (in Icelandic), which provides a large range of tools, news and information for the local music community.
Iceland Music also administers the Music Export Fund, which distributes travel grants monthly and marketing grants quarterly. It also runs projects like Record in Iceland, which is a programme offering a 25% refund for projects that are recorded in Icelandic studios, and Firestarter Accelerator, which provides support for small businesses within the music community.
During the pandemic, the organisation has been lobbying government to get funds into the system to assist with the drop in revenue for musicians and promoters, venues, record stores and related operators.
Iceland Music has also been updating its educational materials, creating webinars, podcasts and educational videos that enable those working in the industry to learn more about the business.
View the full Associates list in the digital edition of IQ 91. To keep on top of the latest live music industry news, features and insights, subscribe to IQ now
This article forms part of IQ’s Covid-19 resource centre – a knowledge hub of essential guidance and updating resources for uncertain times.
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Icelandic music business calls for more support
A new report put together by the Icelandic music industry has highlighted the measures needed to be taken by the government to help the business through the current crisis.
The ‘Impact of Covid-19 on the Icelandic music industry report’ has been compiled by the Icelandic Musicians Union (FIH), Icelandic National Group for IFPI (FHF), Collecting society for performers and phonogram producers (SFH), the Performing Rights Association of Iceland (STEF), Reykjavík Music City and Iceland Music (ÚTÓN).
The report states that, although a number of measures have been taken to address the loss of income of musicians, many schemes such as the partial compensation scheme for cancelled events and closure subsidies for companies forced to halt their operations for public health reasons, “have benefitted members of the music industry in a very limited way”.
“Clearly, despite the good will and the prompt response from the government, we need to find more effective ways to respond to the impact that Covid-19 has had on the music industry in Iceland,” reads the report.
“Clearly, despite the good will and the prompt response from the government, we need to find more effective ways to respond to the impact that Covid-19 has had on the music industry in Iceland”
Existing measures include a ISK 244 million (€1.5m) artists’ salary fund; a ISK 86m (€540,870) fund for new music-related activities; the ISK 30m (€188,680) City of Reykjavík Culture Fund (Menningarpottur Reykjavíkurborgar); and the Summer City 2020 project, which promotes culture and creates job opportunites for musicians and venues in Reykjavík.
The music industry representatives present various counter measures, drawing from action taken in the countries of Denmark, Germany and Finland, to support the industry.
Suggestions include establishing “extensive support packages” for venues, promoters, festivals and agents; a reduction of real estate tax for venues; compensation for the operating costs and other fixed costs of businesses that have not closed down over the period; the creation of a small businesses fund; and government-led promotional campaigns for the music industry.
The report also makes some recommendations for actions to be taken by those in the industry itself, including the establishment of a “formal alliance” of Icelandic concert promoters and increased cooperation between music organisations, with the aim of creating an association to represent the industry as a whole.
The document cites measures taken in Denmark to support self-employed individuals and in Finland, where €700m has been put aside to assist small- and medium-sized businesses. The report also recommends the Icelandic government consider Germany, where €150m has been dedicated to supporting the live music industry.
An executive summary of the report can be found here.
This article forms part of IQ’s Covid-19 resource centre – a knowledge hub of essential guidance and updating resources for uncertain times.
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Björk to perform to live audience in August
Björk is performing a series of shows across three consecutive weekends in August in her home country of Iceland, to celebrate the start of the country’s post-coronavirus reopening.
The shows, which are organised in conjunction with showcase festival Iceland Airwaves, will see the singer perform at Reykjavík’s 1,800-capacity Harpa Hall on 9, 15 and 23 August. The performances will be some of the first from a major artist in front of a live audience since the coronavirus shutdown.
“Dear friends, I would like to invite you to some concerts,” reads a statement from Björk. “We are going to celebrate that we are all healthily exiting quarantine together.”
Björk also states the concerts aim to honour “folks who got hit hardest [by] the coronavirus and the black lives matter movement”, as well as acting as a celebration of the Icelandic musicians that Björk has worked with over the years.
“We are going to celebrate that we are all healthily exiting quarantine together”
Each concert will showcase new instrumental arrangements of scores from Björk’s back catalogue. Björk will perform alongside the Hamrahlid Choir on 9 August and will be accompanied by the Icelandic symphony orchestra on the other two dates.
The concerts will also be streamed live online, where there will an option to donate to women’s shelter Kvennaathvarfid. For those attending in person, money raised from food and drink sales will go to the shelter.
Björk had been set to perform special orchestral shows at Moscow’s Crocus Music Hall and Helsinki’s Hartwall Arena this summer, as well as at festivals Waldbühne Open Air in Germany, Siene Musicale in France and Bluedot festival in the UK, before the pandemic put a halt on global touring.
Tickets for the Harpa Hall shows are available for pre-order on 2 July at 10 a.m. GMT, with general sale commencing on 3 July. Tickets will be priced in five tiers, starting at ISK4,990 (€32).
Iceland Airwaves is taking place from 4 to 7 November in Reykjavík, featuring acts including Metronomy, Courtney Barrett, Black Pumas, Squid and Iceland’s Daði Freyr.
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Secret Solstice cancelled as Iceland cracks down on Covid-19
Organisers of Iceland’s 15,000-capacity Secret Solstice festival have cancelled the upcoming 2020 edition, due to take place at the end of June, as many other European festivals continue to weigh up their options.
“We’re sad to announce that Secret Solstice will no longer be taking place this year and will be postponed until 2021,” reads a statement from organisers. “We have been closely monitoring the situation for the past few weeks and unfortunately, it is now clear that the festival cannot take place this year.
“This decision has not been made lightly, but the health and wellbeing of our Secret Solstice community is our main priority.”
The festival, which takes place in the Iceland’s capital of Reykjavik, will return from 25 to 27 June 2021. A number of acts billed to play this year’s edition, including Cypress Hill, Blackbear, Lil Pump and Primal Scream, are already confirmed for next year’s event.
Tickets will remain valid for the 2021 dates. Alternatively, ticketing agencies will contact fans about refunds in due course.
“We have been closely monitoring the situation for the past few weeks and unfortunately, it is now clear that the festival cannot take place this year”
“We thank our community of festivalgoers, artists and partners for your continued support and we send our love to all,” say Secret Solstice organisers.
So far, over 1,300 cases of the virus and four deaths have been detected in Iceland, which has a population of 360,000.
The Icelandic government last week extended a ban on gatherings over 100 people to those of more than 20. The ban will remain in place until 12 April, with all pubs, venues, museums and gyms closing their doors for the duration.
The government has dedicated ISK 230 billion (€1.5bn) – almost 8% of the country’s GDP – to provide economic stimulus during the coronavirus outbreak. The measures include covering up to 75% of the salary of those at risk of losing their jobs, to boost earnings up to a combined level of ISK 700,000 (€4,500) per month.
Companies in Iceland are also able to postpone tax payments until next year and apply for state guarantees on loans.
Sena Live-promoted Iceland Airwaves, the world’s northernmost showcase festival, is taking place as planned from 4 to 7 November 2020 in Reykjavik.
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ESNS 2020: World-leading Iceland preps gender-balanced showcase
After topping the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index poll for the 11th year running in 2019, Iceland will send a gender-balanced delegation to Eurosonic Noorderslag later this month.
The annual showcase festival, which returns to Groningen, the Netherlands, on 15–18 January, features six Icelandic acts: experimental pop act JFDR, rapper Cell7, synth-pop duo Warmland, electronic pop artist Sólveig Matthildur, electro-psych act President Bongo and contemporary classical composer Gabríel Ólafs.
“I am delighted that we are now in our second decade of topping the WEF Global Gender Gap Index,” comments Iceland’s prime minister, Katrín Jakobsdóttir.
“We are proud that these efforts to achieve gender parity are also evident in our musical scene, with an equal number of both female and male artists playing at Eurosonic festival this year and musical trailblazers paving new paths in all genres from hip-hop to soundtracks.”
Eurosonic announced its full 2020 schedule before Christmas, including all performers and conference sessions. See IQ’s recommended artists, along with those of other international media, here.
See a YouTube playlist of the Icelandic ESNS acts below:
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Sheeran extends record-breaking streak in Iceland
Ed Sheeran played two shows in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik this weekend to record crowds, as the mammoth ÷ (Divide) tour shows no sign of slowing down.
Almost 50,000 people attended the AEG Presents/ Sena Live-promoted shows at the Laugardalsvöllur stadium on 10 and 11 August.
The shows became the biggest in the country’s history, with attendance equating to one in seven of the total Icelandic population.
The feat is the latest in a series of records for the singer’s Divide tour, which became the highest-grossing tour ever on 2 August. On its conclusion, more than 8.5 million people across 43 countries will have seen Sheeran perform on the tour, making it the most attended of all time.
“Though the biggest tour in history is coming to an incredible crescendo the records keep coming for Ed,” says AEG Presents senior vice president of international live music, Simon Jones.
“These historic shows in Iceland were like nothing I have ever seen”
“These historic shows in Iceland were like nothing I have ever seen. They completely took over the country with Sheeran fever at its peak. It was absolutely a national event and the scale of the shows relative to the population was colossal.”
Earlier this year, AEG Presents promoted the singer’s first-ever headline shows in South Africa, breaking previous tickets sales in the country by 30,000.
Sheeran also put on the biggest-ever concert in Finland, playing two shows promoted by FKP Scorpio’s Fullsteam Agency in Helsinki to 108,000 fans.
Other highlights for AEG Presents in the past year include Hugh Jackman playing six nights at the O2 in London and Shawn Mendes’ arena tour. A European tour with Khalid is set for the autumn.
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Are gender-neutral line-ups becoming the “new normal”?
Most festivals are now aiming to book a higher percentage of female acts, but opinion remains divided as to whether 50/50 line-ups are the most effective way of achieving gender parity in the wider music industry, conversations with prominent European bookers reveal.
Several festivals have made headlines for the gender balance – or imbalance – of their line-ups this summer. Primavera Sound this year presented its first gender-equal festival bill, with performances from Miley Cyrus, Solange and Janelle Monáe.
Elsewhere, Glasgow’s Trnsmt festival came in for criticism after revealing a line-up in which only 20% of acts were female. Festival organiser DF Concerts later added the female-only Queen Tut’s Stage, to help “to close the gender play gap” and provide “a platform for female acts at a grassroots level to help them become the bill toppers of the future.”
At Roskilde Festival, “we’re moving in the right direction,” Anders Wahrén, head of programming at Denmark’s largest festival, tells IQ. “Our percentage of female acts has come up from roughly 20% to more than 30% in relatively few years.” Although a relative lack of female headliners can “sometimes mean festivals end up fighting for the same performers”, Wahrén says he is “very happy with the headline side of things” this year.
Roskilde 2019, which takes place from 3 to 6 July, will feature headline performances from Cardi B, Robyn and Janelle Monáe, with Christine and the Queens and Rosalia also appearing high up on the bill.
“Everyone of us in this industry should work together to support female bands and artists, and push them up the ladder to success”
Wahrén says it may be possible to achieve a 50/50 balance “faster than we will”, but stresses it is not about achieving absolute parity as quickly as possible. “We need to look more into why the mix is so bad,” he comments. “This doesn’t change with us booking more female artists – it has to do with music in schools and making the music industry more accessible.”
Mad Cool festival director Javier Arnaiz agrees that more needs to be done to boost female talent at an earlier stage. “It is important to work from the bottom,” says Arnaiz. “Every one of us in this industry, including the festivals, should work together to support these female bands and artists, and push them up the ladder to success, one step at a time, until they finally reach the top.”
Initiatives helping to give female artists an early-career leg-up include Festival Republic’s ReBalance, launched in 2017 as a reaction to what MD Melvin Benn described as a “significant lack of female acts”.
Although featuring exclusively male headliners – Bon Iver, the Cure, the National, the Smashing Pumpkins and Prophets of Rage – Arnaiz says this year’s Mad Cool line-up in general is “quite close to the 50% range”.
The Mad Cool director notes that genre plays a part in a festival’s ability to book many female acts. “It’s not the same to book a Primavera Sound line-up as it is to book one for Download – certain music styles have a low or very low percentage of female artists.”
The organisers of dance music festival Tomorrowland are in agreement, stating that “there are fewer female DJs than male DJs, so maybe that’s reason [why the line-up is male-heavy].”
“We curate our line-up based on the market – we do not choose because of gender”
“We curate our line-up based on the market and we like to have all genres, styles and sub-styles of electronic music represented,” says a Tomorrowland spokesperson. “We do not choose because of gender.”
At this year’s Tomorrowland, Belgian DJ and producer Charlotte de Witte and Russian techno DJ Nina Kraviz will each host their own stage.
Another festival which rejects booking decisions “purely based on gender” is Iceland Airwaves. However, in 2017, the Icelandic showcase event signed the Keychange pledge to achieve a gender-balanced line-up by 2022 – a target it reached last year.
“We’re different in the fact that we’re a showcase festival,” head of marketing and operations Will Larnach-Jones tells IQ, “so we’re never short of having options for artists meeting our criteria.” Recently, says Larnach-Jones, the festival team has gravitated towards lots of “new and exciting” acts that happen to be female-led.
The Airwaves rep admits that it is harder for “mainstream festivals” that “need to have big names on the top of their bills”, but notes that the narrative is changing and that many larger festivals are now lending their support and presenting more balanced line-ups too.
Bluedot festival is one more ‘mainstream’ event supporting the curation of more neutral line-ups. The festival signed up to Keychange last year and this year around 40% of acts are female, says head of programming Emma Zillmann.
“Gender-balanced line-ups really will – and should – become the new normal”
“I think it’s important to state that with most of those [female artists], the woman is the lead of the act,” says Zillmann.
However, the festival’s headliners – New Order, Kraftwerk and Hot Chip – are very male-heavy, with only one female member between the acts.
“It’s really tough – that is really the best line-up that we could have got this year for the budget that was available,” says Zillmann, “and we’re on track to sell out in advance again, even with a 35% increase in capacity.
“So on the one hand I feel incredibly happy, but on the other I’m still not where I want to be with our gender balance.”
Rather than placing the emphasis solely on bookers, Zillmann believes that the whole industry needs to work on “pulling together to build fanbases for talent and making sure that people of all genders are given equal bites at the apple.”
Although booking 50/50 gender-balanced line-ups remains a challenge, and can involve some risk for an event, the Bluedot booker says she believes that equal line-ups “really will – and should – become the new normal.”
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First acts announced for Iceland Airwaves 2019
Reykjavik festival Iceland Airwaves has released the first line-up announcement for its 2019 edition, with acts including Mac DeMarco, Whitney and Shame, playing alongside many Icelandic artists.
Iceland Airwaves, the world’s northernmost showcase festival, takes place from 6 to 9 November in downtown Reykjavik.
Icelandic promoter Sena Live acquired the festival last year, pledging to take Airwaves “back to its roots”, focusing on emerging Icelandic talent, rather than big international names.
Icelandic acts confirmed for this year include synth-led pop groups GDRN, Matthildur, Hildur and Vök, and Reykjavik punk trio Hatari – tipped to represent Iceland at May’s Eurovision Song Contest.
“2019 builds on last year’s mission to return to the ‘heart’ of the festival and shine light on the world’s best emerging talent, local stars and interesting artists”
The festival continues to showcase a whole host of international artists, with this year’s line-up featuring Canadian songwriter Mac DeMarco, Chicago country-soul band Whitney, Cardiff-based Boy Azooga and Norwegian pop artists Anna of the North and Amanda Tenfjord.
“Iceland Airwaves is all about discovery,” comments Will Larnach-Jones, head of marketing and operations at the festival.
“2019 builds on last year’s mission – to return to the ‘heart’ of the festival and shine light on the world’s best emerging talent, local stars and interesting artists – all within the warm, electric atmosphere of downtown Reykjavik,” he says.
A signatory to the keychange initiative, the 2018 edition of Airwaves made history as the first major music festival to have more female artists than male on its line-up.
Early bird tickets for Airwaves 2019, costing 14,900 ISK (£95.55), are on sale here. Travel packages from the UK, Europe, United States and Canada are available from Icelandair.
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Edmania: Sheeran breaks records across Europe with new onsales
Not content with having almost certainly the biggest tour of this year, the Ed Sheeran touring colossus is extending its record-breaking ÷ run deeper into 2019, having already smashed touring records across Europe ahead of a string of open-air dates next summer.
The 12th leg of the ÷ (pronounced ‘Divide’) tour sees Sheeran play a run of European festivals, parks, stadia and other open-air venues, touching down at Groupama Stadium (59,186-cap.) in Lyons on 24 May 2019 and wrapping up with three nights in Chantry Park in Ipswich, in Sheeran’s home county of Suffolk, on 23–25 August.
The tour has done gangbuster business since starting back in March 2017, with the British singer-songwriter’s lasting popularity – dubbed ‘Edmania’ by European promoter FKP Scorpio – driving huge numbers across all legs, including 1m tickets sold in Australasia (leg seven), 750,000 tickets across FKP shows in Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and Poland (leg nine) and, currently, a US$300m-and-counting-grossing US stadium run (leg ten).
The tour was also the highest grossing in the world in the first half of 2018, shifting more than 2.6m tickets – more than double that of runner-up Disney on Ice.
Tickets for leg 12 went on sale last week, and promoters across Europe are already reporting a massive response to the new run of shows, believed to be the last of the tour.
“‘Edmania’ has no end,” enthuses Germany’s FKP Scorpio, which has in five days sold more than 200,000 tickets for just four shows: Hockenheimring on 22 and 23 June and Hanover Fairground on 2 and 3 August.
9% – or nearly one in ten – Icelanders are going to the Reykjavik show
The company is additionally co-promoting two dates in Prague (Letňany airport, 7 and 8 July), one in Riga (Lucavsala Park, 12 July) and two in Helsinki (Malmi airport, 23 and 24 July), in partnership with Charmenko, L Tips Agency and Fullsteam, respectively, all of which it says are seeing “great local demand” for tickets.
The fan response has been similarly overwhelming in France, where promoter Live Nation added a second Groupama Stadium date after the first sold out in minutes on Thursday morning, and at home, where Kilimanjaro Live and DHP Family added a third Ipswich show after the 23 and 24 August dates sold out in under half an hour.
In Romania, 25,000 tickets to Sheeran’s 3 July show at Bucharest’s National Arena stadium sold in record time; in Spain the figure is 70,000 in three hours, for two Live Nation-promoted shows in Barcelona and Madrid on 7 and 11 June, respectively.
In Austria, meanwhile, the onsale for a 28 June Wörthersee Stadium (30,000-cap.) set a new record by selling out in just three minutes; a second date announced for the following night took half an hour. Sheeran has now sold 180,000 tickets in Austria in the last 12 months alone, following two huge concerts at Happel Stadium in Vienna last month, reports Österreich.
But perhaps nowhere more is Sheeran’s status as the world’s premier live draw more apparent than in tiny Iceland, where promoters Sena Live and AEG Presents sold a record-breaking 30,000+ tickets in the space of two hours for his 10 August date at Laugardalsvöllur in Reykjavik. At last count, the population of Iceland was 334,252, meaning around 9% – or nearly one in ten – Icelanders are going to the show. If the same was true in, say, the US, you’d need a stadium that could fit 29m people…
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Iceland Airwaves 2018 closes gender gap
With its 2018 edition, taking place from 7 to 10 November, Iceland Airwaves becomes the first major music festival with a line-up that’s more than 50% female, its head of operations, Will Larnach-Jones, has revealed.
Airwaves is a signatory to the Keychange initiative, which commits nearly 100 festivals and conferences globally to achieving gender-balanced line-ups by 2022. According to Larnach-Jones, the Reykjavik festival has beaten that target by four years, with its 2018 line-up featuring at least as many female as male performers.
“We still have another round of acts to announce, but we’ll be over 50%,” he tells the New York Times. “It was almost back to front: We looked at people we really liked, and then in meetings said, ‘Do we have enough?’
“Happily we always did. That shows you don’t have to try hard – there [are] so many inspiring women around.”
“You don’t have to try hard – there are so many inspiring women around”
Alexander Schulz of Reeperbahn Festival – also a supporter of Keychange – says “the reasons for excuses [for not having a balanced line-up] are getting shorter year by year”, although he cautions that the industry still has a way to go. “There is a great deal of [resistance to] booking as many female acts as male acts,” he tells the Times. “Even female bookers tell me that they are frightened of an economic failure for their festival if they would do so, because popular and well-selling acts out there in the market are mainly male.”
Iceland Airwaves 2018 performers announced so far include Blood Orange, Alma, Superorganism, Stereo Honey and Fever Ray, as well as popular local artists Sóley, Hildur and Young Karin. Airwaves was acquired earlier this year by Icelandic promoter Sena Live, which said it plans to take the festival back to its roots by showcasing emerging Icelandic talent, rather than focusing on booking big international names.
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